LANSING – Environmental and community organizations today are calling
for Michigan’s Public Service Commission to reject the proposed long-term
energy plan from DTE following testimony from experts revealing how DTE’s plan
will hold back a transition to cleaner, more affordable energy. Experts ranging
from energy economists, renewable experts, and health professionals submitted
testimony detailing significant flaws in DTE’s proposal.

Advocates argue that the plan would unnecessarily increase costs, rely
too heavily on fossil fuels that should be retired much earlier, increase
racial and economic inequity, and not invest enough in the clean energy
resources that customers are increasingly demanding. Environmental and
community organizations also call for a more transparent, fair, and inclusive
planning process that would hold the state’s utilities accountable to Michigan
customers.

The full case filing including testimony can be found here:
https://sforce.co/2KMZROU.

The following are
reactions from environmental, conservation and community organizations on DTE
Energy’s proposed Integrated Resource Plan:

“We need a plan that puts people first, with health, affordability and
community power at the forefront,” said Jackson
Koeppel, Executive Director of Soulardarity.
“DTE’s proposal is a transparent attempt to push the cost of their bad
investments and abysmally poor management onto the low-income communities and
communities of color they have been dumping pollution and rate hikes on for
their entire career. DTE is intentionally ignoring community solar and other
local solutions because they care more about how much money their investors
will make next quarter than the lives of the millions of people they claim to
serve.”

“DTE’s plan is supposed to be a vision for powering homes and
businesses across the state. Instead, it’s left Michigan’s environmental
justice communities feeling stripped of power,” said Michelle Martinez, statewide coordinator for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition.
“If we want real climate justice, the process must change, must be inclusive,
and must hold DTE accountable.”

"DTE’s IRP treats both carbon emissions and cost impacts on
ratepayers as an afterthought, instead of a priority that needs to be
addressed," said Alexis Blizman,
Policy Director at the Ecology Center.
"DTE must expand energy efficiency, as well as include greater investments
in clean, renewable energy, like wind and solar, to protect ratepayers against
both the harmful impacts of continuing the use of fossil fuels, as well as the
price volatility of natural gas. The Commission should reject DTE's proposed
IRP and send them back to create a plan that protects both people and planet.”

“DTE has an opportunity to embrace a clean energy future for Michigan,
but by submitting a plan that fails to seriously look at solar and wind power,
battery storage, energy efficiency and demand response, it did not give itself
that chance,” said Margrethe Kearney,
a senior attorney with the Environmental
Law & Policy Center. “This plan holds onto the old way of doing
business, outdated strategies that don’t give DTE the flexibility to integrate
clean, cost-effective renewables that benefit both Michigan’s economy and the
environment.”

“DTE’s IRP is consistent with a century-old monopoly stuck in
traditional solutions,” said John
Richter, Policy Analyst at Great
Lakes Renewable Energy Association. “DTE has proposed utility-owned wind
parks in just enough quantity to meet their legal obligations and the demands
of their largest customers for green energy. While the GLREA welcomes the
proposed renewable energy facilities, the assumptions formed in the overall
plan are faulty and mired in the past. This plan needs substantial revision.”

“DTE’s current proposal to keep coal online for the next 20 years will
have vast and far-reaching implications on the health, safety, and well-being
of families across Michigan,” said Kindra
Weid, RN and Coalition Coordinator of MI
Air MI Health.

“Integrated resource plans are incredibly important for mapping out
our energy future. It's critical that the plans the MPSC ultimately approves
are based on sound analysis,” said Charlotte
Jameson, energy policy and legislative affairs director of Michigan Environmental Council. “DTE
submitted a plan riddled with flaws that bias the outcome away from clean,
renewable energy. These errors are clear to see, especially when you compare
their plan with the one Consumers Energy submitted. As intervenors charged with
protecting Michigan’s environment and residential ratepayers, we will continue
to weigh in on each step of this IRP process to make sure we get the best
outcome for Michigan’s residents.”

"DTE’s long-range plan fails to rein in exploding
electricity costs that are burdening families and businesses,” said Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the
Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
“Michiganders are seeing the negative effects of climate change every day --
from flooded basements and farm fields to spreading algae in the Great Lakes
and scorching droughts. It is time for DTE to move aggressively toward clean,
renewable energy instead of delaying investments in solar and wind power and
opening new, expensive gas plants."

“DTE’s plan yet again shortchanges their customers’ clean energy
future in favor of more expensive fossil fuels,” said Ariana Gonzalez, senior energy policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“They clearly ignored the massive tide of criticism from their last proposal
that led to a billion-dollar gas plant. This is why we must set a precedent in
this case to ensure clean, safe and affordable energy for all.”

"Instead of protecting clean water, clean air, and our
communities, DTE chooses to invest in their pocketbooks by doubling down on
expensive, polluting fossil fuels," said Theresa Landrum, Detroit resident and activist with Sierra Club. “We call on the Michigan
Public Service Commission to reject DTE's polluting energy plan.Alternatively, we ask the MPSC to require
them to design a plan that protects Michiganders and those living in the most
heavily impacted communities by investing in cheaper and cleaner renewable
energy sources, efficiency programs, and storage technology.”

“DTE's plan to keep
relying on coal plants for the next two decades fails to account for the
health, climate, and financial impacts of burning coal,” said Shannon Fisk, Managing Attorney of Earthjustice’s Coal Program. “DTE
overestimated the costs of replacing coal plants with renewables, storage, and
efficiency because the company relied on flawed and outdated assumptions,
instead of actual market data. Michiganders would benefit most, in terms of
cost and health, from aggressive replacement of coal plants with cost-effective
and reliable clean energy.

“DTE’s plan favors its own
expensive power plants over a truly robust process to ensure cleaner and more
affordable energy for Michigan customers. I’ve seen utility commissions reject
resource plans for far less egregious missteps," said Joe Daniel, senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “DTE overestimated the cost of
renewables, underestimated the benefits of efficiency, all the while ignoring
risks associated with the way it operates its existing fleet of coal-fired
power plants. The Michigan Public Service Commission should send this plan back
to the company and insist that DTE take seriously its obligation to fairly
evaluate all resource options, especially earlier investments in renewable energy
and energy efficiency."

"Solar and other clean energy options have quickly become some of
America's lowest cost resources, and every Michigander should be able to
benefit from these affordable, healthy, homegrown options. Instead, DTE is
trying to double down on polluting gas and get away with offering only a very
small utility-controlled green power program that will cost customers a premium
when it should be delivering savings," said Will Kenworthy, Midwest Regulatory Director with Vote Solar. "This expensive plan
will put solar out of reach for many low-income families, seniors on fixed
incomes, environmental justice communities and others who shouldn't be shut out
from the clean economy, which is why we're joining together with allies today
to urge a stronger, healthier and more resilient path forward for DTE."

July 23, 2019

LANSING, MI--In response to a lawsuit filed today against Enbridge in Wisconsin, Sierra Club said the potential court-ordered shutdown of Line 5 there means any negotiations for an Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel in Michigan would only end up increasing the risk of a pipeline rupture in the Great Lakes.

The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed suit against Enbridge to force the decommissioning and removal of the Line 5 pipeline from the tribe’s reservation. The action followed two years of failed mediation talks between the tribe and Enbridge and six years of Enbridge’s unauthorized operation of Line 5 following the expiration of its easement agreement the Bad River Band.

“The takeaway from today’s development should be for Governor Gretchen Whitmer to immediately drop any thought of a proposed oil tunnel or other action focused on keeping Line 5 operating in the Great Lakes and as a risk to Michigan,” said Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Chair. “Delay is not our friend and the oil tunnel is not a solution to protecting the Great Lakes and other Michigan waterways from a Line 5 spill.”

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in Wisconsin runs across 12 miles of sensitive habitat in the Bad River Reservation. Enbridge has continued to operate the pipeline for six years since easements allowing it to maintain the Reservation right-of-way expired in 2013, and today’s action seeks to bring the company’s unauthorized presence to an end.

“We have seen in Wisconsin how Enbridge has dragged out a lengthy process that left the Bad River watershed at extreme risk from an aged Line 5 pipeline. With so much at stake, Michigan can’t chase Enbridge’s oil tunnel vision because there is no end in sight that protects the Great Lakes, “ said Woiwode. “This only reinforces the need for support of Attorney General Dana Nessel’s legal action to begin the process of decommissioning Line 5 in Michigan.”

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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

July 15, 2019

July 10th, 2019Dear Commissioner Nash:We appreciate our long working relationship with you as a former volunteer leader with the Sierra Club, and your work to protect water quality in Oakland County. Your work to stop sewage overflows and address nonpoint source pollution is important and aligns with the Sierra Club’s goals for protecting water quality.

However, your current position on the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule is at odds with ours. We are writing to clarify the Sierra Club’s position on the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule (MLCR). Sierra Club supports the MLCR as proposed. The reformed MLCR outlaws partial lead service line replacements and requires the state’s utilities to eventually replace all the lead and copper service lines in Michigan. Public education and notification requirements were also included in the reformed MLCR. All of these measures have the support of Sierra Club, and we are working hard to assure that these are implemented statewide.Michigan is leading the nation as the first state to mandate the removal of all lead and copper service lines, ban the partial replacement of lead service lines (with an exception for extreme circumstances), and require water utilities to pay for the entire lead service line replacement. As you know, Sierra Club joined with many other organizations in seeking to assist the people of Flint after the disastrous poisoning of hundreds of thousands of people because of the disturbing policies of the Snyder administration. The measures in the MLCR cannot make up for the damage done to the residents of Flint, but they are an important step towards addressing the racially charged injustices that lead to the poisoning of a city.In this important regard, the MLCR aligns with the Sierra Club’s position on environmental justice. Children and those living in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and aging infrastructure face the greatest risk, and their health and safety must not be compromised by weakening the MLCR. Residents of communities with aging infrastructure are disproportionately people of color and/or low-income, magnifying the importance of environmental justice concerns and accessible public notification/education materials. The MLCR works to address these inequalities.There is no safe amount of lead in drinking water, and due to the life-long effects of lead poisoning, support of the MLCR is particularly important to Sierra Club members. Michigan can never again allow its children and citizens to be poisoned by drinking lead contaminated water, and the Sierra Club backs the revised MLCR’s mandate to get the lead service lines out of the ground.Sierra Club asks that instead of litigating against the MLCR that you join us in supporting the MLCR and implementing it. Furthermore we ask you to join us in advocating for federal and state funding to assist with the implementation of the MLCR for any communities that cannot bear the cost of lead service line replacement. If you have any questions or need additional information please feel free to contact us.Sincerely,Gail Philbin, Michigan Chapter Director Anne Woiwode, Michigan Chapter Chair

Citizens groups today called on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel to take immediate steps to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac in the wake of shocking details contained in a newly released National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigative report into a near-disastrous 2018 anchor strike.

The May 31 NTSB report, carried Tuesday in the trade publication Maritime Executive, blames a series of crew errors and defective equipment aboard the Erie Trader for causing the damaging anchor strikes as the tug and barge navigated up to 8-foot seas and 30-knot winds through the icy Straits. It wasn’t until more than a day after the April 1 anchor strike—when the Erie Trader approached its Indiana destination after sailing from the Straits through Lake Michigan that the ship’s captain noticed they had been dragging anchor.

“This report shows there is no regulation or law short of eliminating the pipeline that Michigan can pass to protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic Line 5 pipeline rupture ,” said David Holtz, Oil & Water Don’t Mix spokesperson. “Michigan must act on this new evidence. Only shutting Line 5 down can prevent an oil pipeline rupture and it is urgent that the governor and attorney general immediately use their authority to protect Michigan and the Great Lakes.”

Under an agreement with the State of Michigan, Enbridge is required to shut down Line 5 oil transport during certain dangerous conditions, but didn’t do so until several days after the anchor strike was first discovered. In the aftermath of the anchor strike, Michigan also banned anchor deployment in the Straits, but as the NTSB report indicated there were already anchor restrictions in place when the Erie Trader sailed through the turbulent Straits, unknowingly dragging 540 feet of heavy chain and one of its two anchors behind it.

“Passing anchor bans and signing swiss cheese agreements with Enbridge are simply rearranging deck chairs on this Titanic disaster in the waiting,” said Holtz. “You cannot read the NTSB report and conclude anything other than an immediate and permanent shut down of Line 5 is the appropriate and necessary action to take. Every day that pipeline sits in the Straits is a day closer to disaster.”

The day of the anchor incident, most of the ship’s crew was off in observance of Easter Sunday while the captain was unaware that his ship was dragging a six-ton anchor across the lakebed, rupturing electrical pipelines and damaging Enbridge’s 66-year-old oil pipelines, according to NTSB investigators.

Other findings in the report, include:

The Erie Trader had two anchors, port and starboard, but the crew only checked that the port anchor was secure after mooring overnight near the Soo Locks and departing the next day on Easter Sunday for the Mackinac Straits. A crew member, according to the report, indicated that the anchors were secure but actually failed to check the starboard anchor, which was recently repaired but had been previously out of service since 2017.

Meanwhile, it appears the starboard anchor remained deployed as the Erie Trader headed to the open water behind a Coast Guard ice breaker amid heavy winds and seas. Those strong winds, high waves and noise from breaking ice may have masked the sound of the anchor chain and ship’s anchor dragging, according to the report. The report concludes that the weight of the nearly 18,000-pound anchor chain and six-ton anchor dragging through turbulent waters likely overwhelmed anchor braking and safety devices. The NTSB report also found that the starboard anchor brakes, which had been recently repaired, were not properly adjusted.

The American Transmission Corporation, owner of the electrical lines in the Straits, first discovered a problem with the lines at 5:31pm on April 1 but it took two more days to notify the Coast Guard. It took Enbridge two weeks to visually inspect the pipeline and initially they claimed Line 5 hadn't been struck by the anchor.

Gov. Whitmer is currently negotiating a potential oil tunnel in the Straits but is concerned that construction will take many years leaving the oil pipelines there a continuing risk. The State of Michigan has approved permits for installation on 201 anchor screw supports on the twin pipelines in the Straits which are screwed into the lakebed and hold the pipeline 2 to 4 feet off the bottom, raising concerns that an anchor fluke could easily snag the now elevated pipeline.

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Oil & Water Don’t Mix is a broad campaign of organizations, citizens and businesses across Michigan who are working to keep oil out of our Great Lakes by shutting down the dangerous Line 5 Pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The campaign fights for clean water and air, Indigenous rights, reducing pollution, sustainable economies and protecting sporting, tourism, and jobs that are dependent on our water and Pure Michigan way of life. Learn more atwww.oilandwaterdontmix.org.

April 18, 2019

Gov. Whitmer and Enbridge are reportedly planning to discuss the future of Line 5, and possibly speed up the building of a new oil tunnel. Protection of the Great Lakes is not negotiable and we are counting on Gov. Whitmer to protect the Great Lakes. If discussions go forward we strongly urge the governor to reverse the pattern of backroom, sweetheart deals. Governor Whitmer must focus her efforts on a transparent process that will lead to decommissioning Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

An oil tunnel to carry Enbridge’s Canadian oil is not a good solution for Michigan.

A tunnel would leave at risk of an oil spill along 400 inland waters and dozens of miles of Lake Michigan shoreline along which Line 5 runs in Michigan. Moreover, leading scientists have warned that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change we must rapidly move off of fossil fuels.

Allowing Enbridge to build a tunnel and extend the life of Line 5 even more is the very opposite of what our state should be doing on climate. There are alternatives to Line 5 that do not require building a new oil pipeline, and independent studies commissioned by the State have confirmed these are viable options that would better protect Michigan’s waters and climate.

Please contact Governor Whitmer TODAY and let her know:

PROTECTION OF THE GREAT LAKES IS NOT NEGOTIABLE AND WE ARE COUNTING ON GOVERNOR WHITMER TO PROTECT THE GREAT LAKES FROM THE THREAT OF AN OIL SPILL - SHUT DOWN LINE 5 NOW!

The
Great Farms Great Lakes Coalition, including Public Justice, Sierra
Club Michigan Chapter and Food & Water Watch, laud proposed
legislation to protect the state’s drinking water, sustainable family
farms, and rural communities.

Lansing — State legislators introduced a bill today that would ban disposing of manure, fertilizer, and waste from livestock operations on frozen or snow-covered soil.
Senator Rosemary Bayer and Representative Kevin Hertel introduced the
bill — Senate Bill 247and House Bill 4418 — which would protect valuable
state water resources from contamination.

Michigan
has close to 300 industrial-scale livestock facilities which, depending
on the species, can house up to millions of animals that produce
enormous amounts of waste — a toxic slurry of manure, chemicals,
pathogens and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. The nitrogen and
phosphorus — especially from large-scale dairy operations — feed algae
blooms like the one that poisoned drinking water for Toledo and southern
Michigan in 2014. This toxic manure runs into the sources of drinking
water.

"There
are a lot of threats to water quality in Michigan and the solutions
aren't always obvious, but in the case of harmful algae blooms, we know
one thing we can do immediately to address the problem,"said Gail Philbin, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter director.
"A total ban on the practice of applying waste to frozen or
snow-covered ground, with no exceptions, will stem a significant source
of nutrients that feed the algae blooms that compromise water quality in
Michigan every year."

“Michiganders understand that applying manure to frozen or snow-covered ground is a bad way to treat your neighbors,”said Jessica Culpepper of Public Justice.
“Factory farms do it to make an extra buck at the expense of the
state’s waterways, and the safety of its people. With the introduction
of this bill, the people’s representatives have an opportunity to ensure
corporations operating in Michigan are responsible to those who use its
waters.”

“Enough is enough,” said Rebecca Wolf of Food & Water Watch.
“Allowing factory farms to dump manure on frozen ground where it almost
immediately makes its way into rivers, streams and lakes is a
ridiculous giveaway to this polluting industry – at the expense of our
drinking water. It’s time for Michigan legislators to take a stand and
protect the people of Michigan, the Great Lakes, and drinking water from
the toxic pollution generated by factory farms.”

On April 17th,
members from groups across Michigan will gather at the State Capitol to
pressure legislators to take bold action on agricultural pollution by
passing this legislation.

Lansing, MI—The
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has allowed an industrial
dairy operation in Barry County to expand by 40% despite an illegal discharge
of waste into West Gilkey Lake in 2015 that led to a fine and consent order.
More than four dozen comments were submitted to the MDEQ last fall objecting to
the proposed addition of 900 dairy cows by Prairie View Dairy LLC, a
concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Prairieville Township. In
addition to past environmental violations, comments cited many other concerns,
including:

SignificantrisktoCrooked
Lake andother waters based on CAFO’slargestorage
volumes,minimal buffering area,
and close vicinityto
lakes andwetlands
of highvalue for habitatand fishing

Despite the community’s concerns, in MDEQ’s Responsiveness
Summary issued four months after the close of comments, the agency claimed
it did not consider such a massive expansion and increase in the production of
untreated livestock wastes by almost 5.5 million gallons per year to be
significant enough to warrant reconsideration of the facility’s permit
conditions. Prairie View is covered under a Michigan General CAFO National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit instead of an individual permit,
which could include stricter requirements for monitoring, reporting and design
of the facility.

“Gov. Snyder may be gone, but the legacy of his MDEQ
and its approach to favoring polluters lives on,” said Gail Philbin, director
of Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter. “You see it in Michigan’s struggling rural
communities and compromised waterways, which are substantially less protected
from the public health threat of hundreds of polluting factory farms that
operate with impunity across the state.”

The increase at Prairie View means it will generate
27,610,432 gallons of waste per year, an annual increase of 5,402,597 gallons
in a lake-filled region of the state already saturated with CAFOs and animal
waste. Across Michigan, animal waste from nearly 300 CAFOs frequently
makes its way into waterways, leading to a host of environmental and health
problems.

Manure feeds the algae blooms that plague our inland
waters and was a key factor in the growth of the toxic algae that poisoned
drinking water for Toledo and southern Michigan in 2014. Water and soil
pollution can occur at any point in a dairy operation, including from
over-application of waste to fields of manure slurry containing untreated
feces, urine, disease-causing bacteria, anti-biotics, and hazardous chemicals
such as ammonia and methane.

The Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2012. It is the statewide voice for the nation's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. (The national Sierra Club celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2012, too.)
For nearly five decades, the Michigan Chapter has organized the bold action of citizens working together to protect and restore our Great Lakes state’s health and heritage. We secured permanent protection for Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Grand Island. We defended thousands of acres of fragile wilderness areas in Michigan’s public forests. Our activists cleaned up toxic air pollution from incinerators. We helped stop oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes. We set up strong sulfide mining regulations and helped pass Michigan’s first comprehensive water use laws.